Configurable hybrid beamforming

ABSTRACT

A wireless communication device can include an antenna array and processing circuitry coupled to the antenna array to segment antenna elements of an antenna array into a configurable plurality of groups of antenna elements. The circuitry can also activate analog beamforming for at least one group of the plurality of groups of antenna elements. Subsequent to enabling analog beamforming, the processing circuitry can configure digital beamforming for the at !east one group based on a criterion.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the disclosure pertain to radio frequency (RF)communications. More particularly, aspects relate to beamforming for RFcommunications.

BACKGROUND

Different customers and applications require digital beamforming forsome chains and analog beamforming for others. Therefore, there is ageneral need to dynamically configure different chains for digital oranalog beam forming.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsmay describe similar components in different views. Like numeralshaving, different letter suffixes may represent different instances ofsimilar components. Some aspects are illustrated by way of example, andnot limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary user device according to some aspects.

FIG. 1A illustrates a mmWave system, which can be used in connectionwith the device of FIG. 1 according to some aspects.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary base station radio head according tosome aspects.

FIG. 3A illustrates exemplary wireless communication circuitry accordingto some aspects.

FIG. 3B illustrates aspects of exemplary transmit circuitry illustratedin FIG. 3A according to some aspects.

FIG. 3C illustrates aspects of exemplary transmit circuitry illustratedin FIG. 3A according to some aspects.

FIG. 3D illustrates aspects of exemplary radio frequency circuitryillustrated in FIG. 3A according to some aspects.

FIG. 3E illustrates aspects of exemplary receive circuitry in FIG. 3Aaccording to some aspects.

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary useable RF circuitry in FIG. 3A accordingto some aspects.

FIG. 5A illustrates an aspect of an exemplary radio front end module(RFEM) according to some aspects.

FIG. 5B illustrates an alternate aspect of an exemplary radio front endmodule, according to some aspects.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary multi-protocol baseband processoruseable in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 , according to some aspects.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary mixed signal baseband subsystem,according to some aspects.

FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary digital baseband subsystem, accordingto some aspects.

FIG. 8B illustrates an alternate aspect of an exemplary basebandprocessing subsystem, according to some aspects.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary digital signal processor subsystem,according to some aspects.

FIG. 10 illustrates a configurable beamforming for a multi-elementantenna array implementing analog beamforming according to some aspects.

FIG. 11 illustrates hybrid beamforming using digital beamforming bycolumn for a sixteen-element array according to some aspects.

FIG. 12A illustrates a first example of configurable beamformingaccording to some aspects.

FIG. 12B illustrates a second example of configurable beamformingaccording to some aspects.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method for choosing between digital andanalog beamforming according to some aspects.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a method for selecting additional beams forsome use cases according to some aspects.

FIG. 15 illustrates a beamformer IC block diagram according to someaspects.

FIG. 16 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as anevolved Node-B (eNB), a new generation Node-B (gNB), an access point(AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or a userequipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects.

FIG. 17 illustrates a system level diagram, depicting an example of anelectronic device (e.g., system) that can include, for example, atransmitter configured to selectively fan out a signal to one ofmultiple communication channels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific aspects to enable those skilled in the art to practice them.Other aspects may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process,and other changes. Portions and features of some aspects may be includedin, or substituted for, those of other aspects. Aspects set forth in theclaims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

Different applications require digital beamforming for some chains andanalog beamforming for others. As an example, it may be desirable toimplement digital beamforming horizontally (by column) and analogbeamforming vertically (by rows). In addition, there are use cases inwhich digital beamforming may be desired to achieve performance, withthe possible tradeoff in power consumption, while in other applicationsanalog beamforming with lower power consumption may be sufficient forperformance needs. However, available hardware implementations mayprovide fixed configurations of either analog or digital beamforming,without providing flexibility for different applications and use cases.

Aspects described herein address these concerns by providing aconfigurable solution for analog or digital beamforming that enablesdynamic selection of which chains are combined in the analog domain(analog beamforming) versus in digital domain (digital beamforming). Thecommunication systems, devices, and other components in whichconfigurable beamforming in accordance with some aspects areimplemented, are described in more detail with respect to FIGS. 1-9 .

An integrated Radio-Frequency frontend module (FEM) is broadly used inthe frontend circuits for cellular handsets or other wireless devices.FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary user device according to some aspects.The user device 100 may be a mobile device in some aspects and includesan application processor 105, baseband processor 110 (also referred toas a baseband sub-system), radio front end module (RFEM) 115, memory120, connectivity sub-system 125, near field communication (NFC)controller 130, audio driver 135, camera driver 140, touch screen 145,display driver 150, sensors 155, removable memory 160, power managementintegrated circuit (PMIC) 165, and smart battery 170.

In some aspects, application processor 105 may include, for example, oneor more central processing unit (CPU) cores and one or more of cachememory, low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as serial peripheral interface (SPI),inter-integrated circuit (I2C) or universal programmable serialinterface sub-system, real time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general purpose IO, memory cardcontrollers such as SD/MMC or similar, USB interfaces, mobile industryprocessor interface (MIPI) interfaces, and/or Joint Test Access Group(JTAG) test access ports.

In some aspects, baseband processor 110 may be implemented, for example,as a solder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board,and/or a multi-chip module including two or more integrated circuits.

Applications of mmWave technology can include, for example, WiGig and5G, but the mmWave technology can be applicable to a variety oftelecommunications systems. The mmWave technology can be especiallyattractive for short-range telecommunications systems. WiGig devicesoperate in the unlicensed 60 GHz band, whereas 5G mmWave will operate inthe licensed 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands. A block diagram of an examplebaseband processor 110 and RFEM 115 in a mmWave system is shown in FIG.1A.

FIG. 1A illustrates a mmWave system 100A, which can be used inconnection with the device 100 of FIG. 1 according to some aspects ofthe present disclosure. The system 100A includes two components: abaseband processor 110 and one or more radio front end modules (RFEMs)115. The RFEM 115 can be connected to the baseband processor 110 by acable 190, which supplies a modulated intermediate frequency (IF)signal, DC power, clocking signals and control signals.

The baseband processor 110 is not shown in its entirety, but FIG. 1Arather shows an implementation of analog front end. This includes atransmitter (TX) section 191A with an upconverter 173 to intermediatefrequency (IF), a receiver (RX) section 191B with downconversion 175from IF to baseband, control and multiplexing circuitry 177 including acombiner to multiplex/demultiplex transmit and receive signals onto asingle cable 190. In addition, in a representative implementation, powertee circuitry 192 (which includes discrete components) can be includedon the baseband circuit board to provide DC power for the RFEM 115. Insome aspects, the combination of the TX section and RX section may bereferred to as a transceiver, to which may be coupled one or moreantennas or antenna arrays of the types described herein. While onecombiner is shown, it will be appreciated that multiple combiners may beimplemented.

The RFEM 115 can be a small circuit board including a number of printedantennas and one or more RF devices containing multiple radio chains,including upconversion/downconversion 174 to millimeter wavefrequencies, power combiner/divider 176, programmable phase shifting 178and power amplifiers (PA) 180, low noise amplifiers (LNA) 182, as wellas control and power management circuitry 184A and 184B. Thisarrangement can be different from Wi-Fi or cellular implementations,which generally have all RF and baseband functionality integrated into asingle unit and only antennas connected remotely via coaxial cables.

This architectural difference can be driven by the very large powerlosses in coaxial cables at millimeter wave frequencies. These powerlosses can reduce the transmit power at the antenna and reduce receivesensitivity. In order to avoid this issue, in some aspects, PAs 180 andLNAs 182 may be moved to the RFEM 115 with integrated antennas. Inaddition, the RFEM 115 may include upconversion / downconversion 174 sothat the IF signals over the coaxial cable 190 can be at a lowerfrequency. Additional system context for mmWave 5G apparatuses,techniques and features is discussed herein below.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary base station or infrastructure equipmentradio head according to some aspects. The base station radio head 200may include one or more of application processor 205, basebandprocessors 210, one or more radio front end modules 215, memory 220,power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 225, power tee circuitry230, network controller 235, network interface connector 240, satellitenavigation receiver (e.g., GPS receiver) 245, and user interface 250.

In some aspects, application processor 205 may include one or more CPUcores and one or more of cache memory, low drop-out voltage regulators(LDOs), interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I2C oruniversal programmable serial interface, real time clock (RTC),timer-counters including interval and watchdog timers, general purposeIO, memory card controllers such as SD/MMC or similar, USB interfaces,MIPI interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access ports.

In some aspects, baseband processor 210 may be implemented, for example,as a solder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip sub-system including two or more integrated circuits.

In some aspects, memory 220 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous DRAM(SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) including high-speed electricallyerasable memory (commonly referred to as Flash memory), phase-changerandom access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory(MRAM), and/or a three-dimensional crosspoint memory. Memory 220 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,socketed memory modules and plug-in memory cards.

In some aspects, power management integrated circuitry 225 may includeone or more of voltage regulators, surge protectors, power alarmdetection circuitry and one or more backup power sources such as abattery or capacitor. Power alarm detection circuitry may detect one ormore of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage) conditions.

In some aspects, power tee circuitry 230 may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable. Power tee circuitry 230 may provideboth power supply and data connectivity to the base station radio head200 using a single cable.

In some aspects, network controller 235 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet.Network connectivity may be provided using a physical connection whichis one of electrical (commonly referred to as copper interconnect),optical or wireless.

In some aspects, satellite navigation receiver 245 may include circuitryto receive and decode signals transmitted by one or more navigationsatellite constellations such as the global positioning system (GPS),Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS), Galileoand/or BeiDou. The receiver 245 may provide, to application processor205, data which may include one or more of position data or time data.Time data may be used by application processor 205 to synchronizeoperations with other radio base stations or infrastructure equipment.

In some aspects, user interface 250 may include one or more of buttons.The buttons may include a reset button. User interface 250 may alsoinclude one or more indicators such as LEDs and a display screen.

FIG. 3A illustrates exemplary wireless communication circuitry accordingto some aspects; FIGS. 3B and 3C illustrate aspects of transmitcircuitry shown in FIG. 3A according to some aspects; FIG. 3Dillustrates aspects of radio frequency circuitry shown in FIG. 3Aaccording to some aspects; FIG. 3E illustrates aspects of receivecircuitry in FIG. 3A according to some aspects. Wireless communicationcircuitry 300 shown in FIG. 3A may be alternatively grouped according tofunctions. Components illustrated in FIG. 3A are provided here forillustrative purposes and may include other components not shown in FIG.3A.

Wireless communication circuitry 300 may include protocol processingcircuitry 305 (or processor) or other means for processing. Protocolprocessing circuitry 305 may implement one or more of medium accesscontrol (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergenceprotocol (PDCP), radio resource control (RRC) and non-access stratum(NAS) functions, among others. Protocol processing circuitry 305 mayinclude one or more processing cores to execute instructions and one ormore memory structures to store program and data information.

Wireless communication circuitry 300 may further include digitalbaseband circuitry 310. Digital baseband circuitry 310 may implementphysical layer (PHY) functions including one or more of hybrid automaticrepeat request (HARQ) functions, scrambling and/or descrambling, codingand/or decoding, layer mapping and/or de-mapping, modulation symbolmapping, received symbol and/or bit metric determination, multi-antennaport pre-coding and/or decoding which may include one or more ofspace-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signalgeneration and/or detection, preamble sequence generation and/ordecoding, synchronization sequence generation and/or detection, controlchannel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

Wireless communication circuitry 300 may further include transmitcircuitry 315, receive circuitry 320 and/or antenna array circuitry 330.Wireless communication circuitry 300 may further include RF circuitry325. In some aspects, RF circuitry 325 may include one or multipleparallel RF chains for transmission and/or reception. Each of the RFchains may be connected to one or more antennas of antenna arraycircuitry 330.

In some aspects, protocol processing circuitry 305 may include one ormore instances of control circuitry. The control circuitry may providecontrol functions for one or more of digital baseband circuitry 310,transmit circuitry 315, receive circuitry 320, and/or RF circuitry 325.

FIGS. 3B and 3C illustrate aspects of transmit circuitry shown in FIG.3A according to some aspects. Transmit circuitry 315 shown in FIG. 3Bmay include one or more of digital to analog converters (DACs) 340,analog baseband circuitry 345, up-conversion circuitry 350 and/orfiltering and amplification circuitry 355. DACs 340 may convert digitalsignals into analog signals. Analog baseband circuitry 345 may performmultiple functions as indicated below. Up-conversion circuitry 350 mayup-convert baseband signals from analog baseband circuitry 345 to RFfrequencies (e.g., mmWave frequencies). Filtering and amplificationcircuitry 355 may filter and amplify analog signals. Control signals maybe supplied between protocol processing circuitry 305 and one or more ofDACs 340, analog baseband circuitry 345, up-conversion circuitry 350and/or filtering and amplification circuitry 355.

Transmit circuitry 315 shown in FIG. 3C may include digital transmitcircuitry 365 and RF circuitry 370. In some aspects, signals fromfiltering and amplification circuitry 355 may be provided to digitaltransmit circuitry 365. As above, control signals may be suppliedbetween protocol processing circuitry 305 and one or more of digitaltransmit circuitry 365 and RF circuitry 370.

FIG. 3D illustrates aspects of radio frequency circuitry shown in FIG.3A according to some aspects. Radio frequency circuitry 325 may includeone or more instances of radio chain circuitry 372, which in someaspects may include one or more filters, power amplifiers, low noiseamplifiers, programmable phase shifters and power supplies.

Radio frequency circuitry 325 may also in some aspects include powercombining and dividing circuitry 374. In some aspects, power combiningand dividing circuitry 374 may operate bidirectionally, such that thesame physical circuitry may be configured to operate as a power dividerwhen the device is transmitting, and as a power combiner when the deviceis receiving. In some aspects, power combining and dividing circuitry374 may include one or more wholly or partially separate circuitries toperform power dividing when the device is transmitting and powercombining when the device is receiving. In some aspects, power combiningand dividing circuitry 374 may include passive circuitry including oneor more two-way power divider/combiners arranged in a tree. In someaspects, power combining and dividing circuitry 374 may include activecircuitry including amplifier circuits.

In some aspects, radio frequency circuitry 325 may connect to transmitcircuitry 315 and receive circuitry 320 in FIG. 3A. Radio frequencycircuitry 325 may connect to transmit circuitry 315 and receivecircuitry 320 via one or more radio chain interfaces 376 and/or acombined radio chain interface 378. In some aspects, one or more radiochain interfaces 376 may provide one or more interfaces to one or morereceive or transmit signals, each associated with a single antennastructure. In some aspects, the combined radio chain interface 378 mayprovide a single interface to one or more receive or transmit signals,each associated with a group of antenna structures.

FIG. 3E illustrates aspects of receive circuitry in FIG. 3A according tosome aspects. Receive circuitry 320 may include one or more of parallelreceive circuitry 382 and/or one or more of combined receive circuitry384. In some aspects, the one or more parallel receive circuitry 382 andone or more combined receive circuitry 384 may include one or moreIntermediate Frequency (IF) down-conversion circuitry 386, IF processingcircuitry 388, baseband down-conversion circuitry 390, basebandprocessing circuitry 392 and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuitry394. As used herein, the term “intermediate frequency” refers to afrequency to which a carrier frequency (or a frequency signal) isshifted as in intermediate step in transmission, reception, and/orsignal processing. IF down-conversion circuitry 386 may convert receivedRF signals to IF. IF processing circuitry 388 may process the IFsignals, e.g., via filtering and amplification. Baseband down-conversioncircuitry 390 may convert the signals from IF processing circuitry 388to baseband. Baseband processing circuitry 392 may process the basebandsignals, e.g., via filtering and amplification. ADC circuitry 394 mayconvert the processed analog baseband signals to digital signals.

FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary RF circuitry of FIG. 3A according to someaspects. In an aspect, RF circuitry 325 in FIG. 3A (depicted in FIG. 4using reference number 425) may include one or more of the IF interfacecircuitry 405, filtering circuitry 410, up-conversion anddown-conversion circuitry 415, synthesizer circuitry 420, filtering andamplification circuitry 424, power combining and dividing circuitry 430,and radio chain circuitry 435.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate aspects of a radio front-end module(RFEM) useable in the circuitry shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , accordingto some aspects. FIG. 5A illustrates an aspect of a RFEM according tosome aspects. RFEM 500 incorporates a millimeter wave RFEM 505 and oneor more above-six gigahertz radio frequency integrated circuits (RFIC)515 and/or one or more sub-six gigahertz RFICs 522. In this aspect, theone or more sub-six gigahertz RFICs 515 and/or one or more sub-sixgigahertz RFICs 522 may be physically separated from millimeter waveRFEM 505. RFICs 515 and 522 may include connection to one or moreantennas 520. RFEM 505 may include multiple antennas 510.

FIG. 5B illustrates an alternate aspect of a radio front end module,according to some aspects. In this aspect both millimeter wave andsub-six gigahertz radio functions may be implemented in the samephysical radio front end module (RFEM) 530. RFEM 530 may incorporateboth millimeter wave antennas 535 and sub-six gigahertz antennas 540.

FIG. 6 illustrates a multi-protocol baseband processor 600 useable inthe system and circuitry shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 , according to someaspects. In an aspect, baseband processor may contain one or moredigital baseband subsystems 640A, 640B, 640C, 640D, also herein referredto collectively as digital baseband subsystems 640.

In an aspect, the one or more digital baseband subsystems 640A, 640B,640C, 640D may be coupled via interconnect subsystem 665 to one or moreof CPU subsystem 670, audio subsystem 675 and interface subsystem 680.In an aspect, the one or more digital baseband subsystems 640 may becoupled via interconnect subsystem 645 to one or more of each of digitalbaseband interface 660A, 660B and mixed-signal baseband subsystem 635A,635B.

In an aspect, interconnect subsystem 665 and 645 may each include one ormore of each of buses point-to-point connections and network-on-chip(NOC) structures. In an aspect, audio subsystem 675 may include one ormore of digital signal processing circuitry, buffer memory, programmemory, speech processing accelerator circuitry, data convertercircuitry such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog convertercircuitry, and analog circuitry including one or more of amplifiers andfilters.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary of a mixed signal baseband subsystem700, according to some aspects. In an aspect, mixed signal basebandsubsystem 700 may include one or more of IF interface 705, analog IFsubsystem 710, down-converter and up-converter subsystem 720, analogbaseband subsystem 730, data converter subsystem 735, synthesizer 725and control subsystem 740.

FIG. 8A illustrates a digital baseband processing subsystem 801,according to some aspects. FIG. 8B illustrates an alternate aspect of adigital baseband processing subsystem 802, according to some aspects.

In an aspect of FIG. 8A, the digital baseband processing subsystem 801may include one or more of each of digital signal processor (DSP)subsystems 805A, 805B, ...805N, interconnect subsystem 835, boot loadersubsystem 810, shared memory subsystem 815, digital I/O subsystem 820,and digital baseband interface subsystem 825.

In an aspect of FIG. 8B, digital baseband processing subsystem 802 mayinclude one or more of each of accelerator subsystem 845A, 845B, ...845N, buffer memory 850A, 850B, ... 850N, interconnect subsystem 835,shared memory subsystem 815, digital I/O subsystem 820, controllersubsystem 840 and digital baseband interface subsystem 825.

In an aspect, boot loader subsystem 810 may include digital logiccircuitry configured to perform configuration of the program memory andrunning state associated with each of the one or more DSP subsystems805. Configuration of the program memory of each of the one or more DSPsubsystems 805 may include loading executable program code from storageexternal to digital baseband processing subsystems 801 and 802.Configuration of the running state associated with each of the one ormore DSP subsystems 805 may include one or more of the steps of: settingthe state of at least one DSP core which may be incorporated into eachof the one or more DSP subsystems 805 to a state in which it is notrunning, and setting the state of at least one DSP core which may beincorporated into each of the one or more DSP subsystems 805 into astate in which it begins executing program code starting from apredefined memory location.

In an aspect, shared memory subsystem 815 may include one or more ofread-only memory (ROM), static random access memory (SRAM), embeddeddynamic random access memory (eDRAM) and/or non-volatile random accessmemory (NVRAM).

In an aspect, digital I/O subsystem 820 may include one or more ofserial interfaces such as Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C), SerialPeripheral Interface (SPI) or other 1, 2 or 3-wire serial interfaces,parallel interfaces such as general-purpose input-output (GPIO),register access interfaces and direct memory access (DMA). In an aspect,a register access interface implemented in digital I/O subsystem 820 maypermit a microprocessor core external to digital baseband processingsubsystem 801 to read and/or write one or more of control and dataregisters and memory. In an aspect, DMA logic circuitry implemented indigital I/O subsystem 820 may permit transfer of contiguous blocks ofdata between memory locations including memory locations internal andexternal to digital baseband processing subsystem 801.

In an aspect, digital baseband interface subsystem 825 may provide forthe transfer of digital baseband samples between baseband processingsubsystem and mixed signal baseband or radio-frequency circuitryexternal to digital baseband processing subsystem 801. In an aspect,digital baseband samples transferred by digital baseband interfacesubsystem 825 may include in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) samples.

In an aspect, controller subsystem 840 may include one or more of eachof control and status registers and control state machines. In anaspect, control and status registers may be accessed via a registerinterface and may provide for one or more of: starting and stoppingoperation of control state machines, resetting control state machines toa default state, configuring optional processing features, and/orconfiguring the generation of interrupts and reporting the status ofoperations. In an aspect, each of the one or more control state machinesmay control the sequence of operation of each of the one or moreaccelerator subsystems 845. There may be examples of implementations ofboth FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B in the same baseband subsystem.

FIG. 9 illustrates a digital signal processor (DSP) subsystem 900according to some aspects. In an aspect, DSP subsystem 900 may includeone or more of each of DSP core subsystem 905, local memory 910, directmemory access (DMA) subsystem 915, accelerator subsystem 920A, 920B...920N, external interface subsystem 925, power management circuitry 930and interconnect subsystem 935.

In an aspect, the local memory 910 may include one or more of each ofread-only memory, static random access memory or embedded dynamic randomaccess memory.

In an aspect, the DMA subsystem 915 may provide registers and controlstate machine circuitry adapted to transfer blocks of data betweenmemory locations including memory locations internal and external to DSPsubsystem 900.

In an aspect, external interface subsystem 925 may provide for access bya microprocessor system external to DSP subsystem 900 to one or more ofmemory, control registers and status registers which may be implementedin DSP subsystem 900. In an aspect, external interface subsystem 925 mayprovide for transfer of data between local memory 910 and storageexternal to DSP subsystem 900 under the control of one or more of theDMA subsystem 915 and the DSP core subsystem 905.

Configurable Hybrid Beamforming

As described earlier herein, different applications require digitalbeamforming for some chains and analog beamforming for others. However,most hardware implementations available today are fixed for eitherdigital or analog beamforming and do not allow flexibility based onapplication or use case.

Systems described herein address these and other concerns by providing aconfigurable solution for analog or digital beamforming that enablesdynamic selection of which chains are combined in analog domain (analogbeamforming) versus in the digital domain (digital beamforming). Thisdynamic selection can be based on use case, conditions (line of sight(LOS) or non-line of sight (NLOS), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), etc.),and can also enable wider bandwidth carrier aggregation by transmittingand receiving on different carriers at different frequencies ondifferent beams.

Systems according to some aspects can use a segmented mixer design withdifferent weighted slices that can be connected to intermediatefrequency (IF) chains of different Trans-Impedance Amplifiers (TIAs).Configuration of which weighted slices are enabled can configure whichof one or more paths are active and therefore activate or configureanalog or digital beamforming.

A configurable solution to select between analog or digital beamformingin a dynamic manner allows the choice to be made based on application oruse case. Digital beamforming requires implementing the entire RF chain(including data converters) for every antenna element in the array. Foranalog beamforming, the signal is split when the signal is beingtransmitted (or combined when the signal is being received) close to theantenna elements so only a small portion of the RF chain is repeated foreach antenna element. Accordingly, it can be understood that digitalbeamforming implementations consume much more power than analogbeamforming implementations, due to the use of more circuit componentsin particular data converters. On the other hand, digital beamformingdoes provide for implementing many beams simultaneously, in contrast toanalog beamforming.

Some use cases require multiple beams, and other use cases can beimplemented more advantageously with multiple beams. For example,systems or cases using multi-user MIMO (or communication with a largenumber of user equipments (UEs), multi-path environments (where a singleline of sight beam is not practical), carrier aggregation, or multi basestation communication (for example in performing handovers) may be onlyimplemented, or best implemented, with multiple beams and digitalbeamforming. For other use cases where only one or two beams are needed,then analog beamforming may be sufficient and would enable noticeablepower consumption improvements.

FIG. 10 illustrates one implementation of analog beamforming for amulti-element antenna array according to some aspects. While sixteenelements are shown, it will be understood that aspects are not limitedthereto. In the example, all sixteen elements 1002-1 through 1002-16 arecombined for reception (or split for transmission in the analog domainto a signal chain that would interface to a single IF converter and/ordata converter chain. While two antenna elements are shown for eachmixer 1003-1, 1003-2, 1003-3, 1003-4, 1003-5, 1003-6, 1003-7, 1003-8, itwill be appreciated that each antenna element can instead have its ownmixer. A combiner (not shown in FIG. 10 ) may be in front of each mixer1003-1, 1003-2, 1003-3, 1003-04, 1003-5, 1003-6, 1003-7, 1003-8 tocombine for example 1002-1 with 1002-2, etc. The combiners 1004 cangenerate other combined signals or route every antenna element signalinto its own path, or some combination thereof. In FIG. 10 , thecombiners 1004 closest to the antennas 1002-1 through 1002-16 areconfigurable, which enables the signals to be combined in the analogdomain at 1006 or routed to dedicated chains for use in digitalbeamforming. In some examples, the combiner 1004 can comprise a fullbypass sending all four mixer signals to four dedicated chains toimplement full digital beamforming (i.e., the

FIG. 11 illustrates hybrid beamforming using digital beamforming bycolumn for a sixteen-element array according to some aspects. The samehardware is shown as in FIG. 10 configured for analog beamforming, butwith separate dedicated paths 1102, 1104, 1106, 1108 to the IF converterand/or data converter chains. This example shows how analog beamformingwith analog combining is implemented vertically and digital combining isimplemented horizontally (i.e., analog combining for each element in acolumn in the analog domain, and a separate path 1102, 1104, 1106, 1108per column to activate digital beamforming). For example, antennaelements 1100-13, 1100-14, 1100-15 and 1100-16, which are from a samecolumn 1110 are combined in the analog domain by mixers 1118, 1120 andthen into one path (and one beam) 1108 by combiner 1122. Similarly,antenna elements 1100-9, 1100-10, 1100-11, and 1100-12, which are from asame column 1112, are combined in the analog domain by mixers 1124, 1126and then into another path (and one beam) 1106 by combiner 1122.Similarly, antenna elements 1100-8, 1100-7, 1100-6, and 1100-5, whichare from a same column 1114, are combined in the analog domain by mixers1128, 1130 and into a path (and one beam) 1104 by combiner 1132.Similarly, antenna elements 1100-4, 1100-3, 1100-2, and 1100-1, whichare from a same column 1116, are combined in the analog domain by mixers1134, 1136 and then into another path (and one beam) 1102 by thecombiner 1132.

While the example of FIG. 11 shows a hybrid approach with analogcombining of four elements (i.e., four paths/beams 1102, 1104, 1106,1108 to IF / data converters), aspects can be configured for analogcombining of eight elements (i.e., two paths to IF / data converters),or even analog combining of two elements (i.e., eight paths to IF / dataconverters). In some aspects, each antenna element 1002-1 through1002-16 can go to a separate mixer, and separate or shared oscillators.In any case, the dynamic configuration of analog beamforming, digitalbeamforming, or a hybrid of both analog and digital beamforming can beperformed in baseband circuitry or beamforming circuitry of a basestation, gNB, etc.

For example, the configurable combining shown in FIG. 11 could beimplemented utilizing a segmented mixer design with different weightedslices that are connected to IF chains of different TIAs. Configurationof which weighted slices are to be enabled can enable the selection ofone or more paths being active and therefore activate or configuredynamically configurable analog or digital beamforming.

In examples of device-to-device (D2D) communication, digital beamformingenables separate beams for communicating from UE to UE, and thereforebaseband controllers at each of the UEs involved in D2D communicationcan configure digital beamforming or analog beamforming depending on thecommunication being performed. For example, a UE can use analogbeamforming with a single beam when communicating only with the basestation. On the other hand, the UE can use digital beamforming with twoor more beams when the UE is communicating with the base station and aUE (or multiple UE’s). In other words, the UE may use one beam perdevice being communicated with, to allow simultaneous communication.FIG. 12A illustrates example UE digital beamforming according to someaspects. A UE can have a 16-element configurable antenna array 1200.Baseband circuitry of the UE can perform digital beamforming with beam1202 being configured for communication with another UE 1204.Beamforming can be performed with beam 1206 to communicatesimultaneously with a base station 1208.

Base stations can incorporate a similar concept, in that basebandcontrollers at a gNB can configure digital beamforming or analogbeamforming depending on the communication being performed. For example,a gNB can use analog beamforming with a single beam when communicatingonly with a single UE. On the other hand, the gNB can use digitalbeamforming with two or more beams when communicating to a UE and a gNB(or multiple gNBs) at the same time. FIG. 12B illustrates example gNBdigital beamforming according to some aspects. A gNB can have a16-element configurable antenna array 1210. Baseband circuitry of thegN13 can perform digital beamforming with beam 1212 being configured forcommunication with another base station 1214. Another beam 1216 can beconfigured for simultaneous communication with yet another base station1218.

In examples using multi-user communication, a gNB, base station, etc.,can switch to digital beamforming when many users are present, and manybeams are needed to communicate with many users. When the number ofusers falls below a threshold, then analog beamforming can be activatedto save power consumption as only a few beams are required.

In examples in which diversity or performance improvements are needed,for example, in scenarios with a high multi-path environment, digitalbeamforming can be activated or configured for the base station or UE.The signal from the multiple paths / multiple beams, can be combined forsignal to noise improvements, which can increase the effective cellradius for a given modulation coding scheme (MCS). Digital beamformingcan also be configured to take advantage of multipath to increase datarate with additional MIMO layers, in other words each beam can be adifferent MIMO layer. When a low multi-path environment is detected orlower data rates are acceptable, then analog beamforming can beactivated to save power with fewer number of MIMO layers (e.g., 1 MIMOlayer for 1-1 polarization and 1 MIMO layer for V polarization).

If interference is detected and/or avoidance mechanisms are needed toavoid interference, digital beamforming can be activated or configuredperiodically to look for other beam directions/paths that have bettersignal to interference or signal to noise performance. Once the bestbeam direction is identified, the gNB, UE, etc., can switch back toanalog beamforming for lower power consumption. In handover situations,digital beamforming can be activated or configured periodically to lookfor other base stations from other beam directions that have betterperformance (signal to noise or signal to interference). In this way,handovers can be assisted and therefore performed more quickly andsmoothly. Once a better base station beam or signal is identified,traffic can be handed over to that base station and then the UE canswitch back to analog beamforming for lower power for normal datacommunication.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method 1220 for choosing between digital andanalog beamforming according to some aspects. The method 1220 can beimplemented in controller circuitry, e.g., elements of a RFEM 115 orbaseband sub-system 110 (FIG. 1 ) in any wireless communication device(e.g., UE, base station, gNB, etc.) or in local circuitry such as abeamforming IC 1400 (FIG. 14 ).

The method starts at operation 1222 with initiation of a transmission orother communication scenario by a wireless communication device. Inoperation 1224, the wireless communication device can default to analogbeamforming for all antenna elements by, e.g., enabling analogbeamforming. In operation 1226, the wireless communication device candetermine that signal quality has deteriorated below a threshold. Inoperation 1228, responsive to determining that signal quality hasdeteriorated below a threshold, digital beamforming can be configured,activated, enabled, or turned on and analog beamforming can be disabled,de-configured, deactivated or turned off for at least some antennaelements. Otherwise, at operation 1230, the wireless communicationdevice can determine whether a specified time period has expired. Insome aspects, the time period can be a few seconds for applications withdynamic temperature or other environmental conditions. In other aspects,the time period can be many minutes or hours for applications with morestatic environmental conditions. If yes, in operation 1228, digitalbeamforming can be configured for at least some antenna elements. Atoperation 1232, the wireless communication device can detect signalquality for each beam. At operation 1234, if there is one beam foundthat by itself meets performance requirements, then the wirelesscommunication device will switch to communication on that beam inoperation 1236.

Otherwise, if the wireless communication device determines in operation1238 that multiple beams meet the performance requirement, the wirelesscommunication device will select the best continue with digitalbeamforming with multiple beams in operation 1228. In some aspects,information regarding next-best beam/s can be stored or saved in casethe wireless communication device determines to switch to a next-bestbeam, for example if the best beam was later determined to no longermeet performance needs. If no best beam is found, and the use ofmultiple beams does not meet performance requirements, the communicationdevice can select the best of available beams in operation 1236 andcontinue with analog beamforming in operation 1224. In other words, ifthere is no best beam found, and the use of multiple beams does not meetneeds of the use case, communications may continue with analogbeamforming.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a method 1300 for selecting additional beamsfor some use cases according to some aspects. The method 1300 can beimplemented in any wireless communication device (e.g., UE, basestation, gNB, etc.), and in particular in controller elements such as,e.g., elements of a RFEM 115 or baseband sub-system 110 (FIG. 1 ) or inlocal circuitry such as a beamforming IC 1400 (FIG. 15 )

The method starts at operation 1302 with initiation of a transmission orother communication scenario by a wireless communication device. Inoperation 1304, the wireless communication device can default to analogbeamforming for all antenna elements. In operation 1306, the wirelesscommunication device can determine that signal quality has deterioratedbelow a threshold. If yes, in operation 1308, digital beamforming can beconfigured for at least some antenna elements. Otherwise, at operation1310, the wireless communication device can determine whether aspecified time period has expired. If yes, in operation 1308, digitalbeamforming can be configured for at least some antenna elements.

If signal quality has not fallen below a threshold, and no specific timeperiod has expired, in operation 1312 the wireless communication devicecan determine whether additional beams are needed for handoverassistance, additional MIMO layers, etc. If additional beams are needed,in operation 1314, digital beamforming with multiple beams can beactivated or configured. The wireless communication device will continuewith digital beamforming on multiple beams until determining thatadditional beams are no longer needed, at which point the wirelesscommunication device will re-activate analog beamforming in operation1304.

If the wireless communication device switched to digital beamforming dueto poor signal quality (operation 1306) or due to expiration of a timeperiod (operation 1310), the wireless communication device can detectsignal quality for each beam at operation 1316. At operation 1318, ifthere is one beam found that by itself meets performance requirements,then the wireless communication device will switch to communication onthat beam in operation 1320.

Otherwise, if the wireless communication device determines in operation1322 that using multiple beams meets the performance requirement (e.g.,a requirement of the use cases described above, or signal strength orother requirements), the wireless communication device will select thebest continue with digital beamforming with multiple beams in operation1308. If no best beam is found, and the use of multiple beams does notmeet or help the communication device to meet performance requirements,the communication device may select the best of available beams inoperation 1320 and continue with analog beamforming in operation 1304.

FIG. 15 illustrates a beamformer IC 1400 block diagram according to someaspects. FIG. 15 illustrates additional blocks to measure RSSI in bothanalog and digital beamforming modes.

In either method 1200 or method 1300, or in any other aspects that canselect between digital and analog beamforming, a selection algorithm canperform signal measurements, e.g., radio signal strength indicator(RSSI) measurements on the beamforming IC 1400, which can be fasterrelative to relying on decisions of baseband circuitry. For example, thebeamforming IC can take RSSI measurements by coarsely digitizing RFsignals at block 1402. At block 1404, the digital data is combined sothat the RSSI associated with digital or hybrid beamforming can bemeasured in 1406. Block 1404 is a configurable combiner for the RSSIpath and can perform artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to learnbest beams and configurations for different use cases.

1406 to do the integration and return the RSSI and integrating thisdigitization at block 1404 to measure RF signal power at blocks 1406.

If analog beamforming is activated, RSSI measurement can be taken on thecombined signal at block 1408. In at least these aspects, thebeamforming IC 1400 can use time variations of the estimated signalpower to estimate if the signal quality falls below a certain threshold(e.g., decision point 1206, 1306 (FIG. 13 or FIG. 14 ).

During beam scanning, the beamforming IC 1400 may estimate RSSI across arange of predefined beam directions by digitizing each path, applyingproper beamforming weights, and integrating the combined signal. Thebeamforming IC 1400 or other circuitry can determine best beam(s) atblock 1410 during this beam scanning procedure. Alternatively, insteadof estimating RSSI for predefined beams, AI algorithms according to someaspects can change the weights applied in 1404 to the digitized versionof each RF path, scan more directions to identify better beams, andextrapolate beam direction and nulling for subsequent communications.Extra beams can be formed to communicate extrapolated models formultipath and interference between users and a base station. Extra beamscan also be formed for sounding the environment for reflection andchannel modeling.

Using the above methodologies, antenna arrays can be dynamicallyconfigured to suit different use cases that are best implemented usingdigital beamforming, when high performance is needed, versus other usecases in which power savings are more important and which are bettersuited to analog beamforming.

Other Systems and Apparatuses

FIG. 16 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device 1800 suchas an evolved Node-B (eNB), a new generation Node-B (gNB), an accesspoint (AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or a userequipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects. In alternative aspects,the communication device 1800 may operate as a standalone device or maybe connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices. In someaspects, the communication device 1800 can use one or more of thetechniques and circuits discussed herein, in connection with any of FIG.1 - FIG. 15 .

Circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry) is a collection of circuitsimplemented in tangible entities of the device 1800 that includehardware (e.g., simple circuits, gates, logic, etc.). Circuitrymembership may be flexible over time. Circuitries include members thatmay, alone or in combination, perform specified operations whenoperating. In an example, hardware of the circuitry may be immutablydesigned to carry out a specific operation (e.g., hardwired). In anexample, the hardware of the circuitry may include variably connectedphysical components (e.g., execution units, transistors, simplecircuits, etc.) including a machine readable medium physically modified(e.g., magnetically, electrically, moveable placement of invariantmassed particles, etc.) to encode instructions of the specificoperation.

In connecting the physical components, the underlying electricalproperties of a hardware constituent are changed, for example, from aninsulator to a conductor or vice versa. The instructions enable embeddedhardware (e.g., the execution units or a loading mechanism) to createmembers of the circuitry in hardware via the variable connections tocarry out portions of the specific operation when in operation.Accordingly, in an example, the machine-readable medium elements arepart of the circuitry or are communicatively coupled to the othercomponents of the circuitry when the device is operating. In an example,any of the physical components may be used in more than one member ofmore than one circuitry. For example, under operation, execution unitsmay be used in a first circuit of a first circuitry at one point in timeand reused by a second circuit in the first circuitry, or by a thirdcircuit in a second circuitry at a different time. Additional examplesof these components with respect to the device 1800 follow.

In some aspects, the device 1800 may operate as a standalone device ormay be connected (e.g., networked) to other devices. In a networkeddeployment, the communication device 1800 may operate in the capacity ofa server communication device, a client communication device, or both inserver-client network environments. In an example, the communicationdevice 1800 may act as a peer communication device in peer-to-peer (P2P)(or other distributed) network environment. The communication device1800 may be a UE, eNB, PC, a tablet PC, a STB, a PDA, a mobiletelephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch orbridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions(sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by thatcommunication device. Further, while only a single communication deviceis illustrated, the term “communication device” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of communication devices that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloudcomputing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer clusterconfigurations.

Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic ora number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations andmay be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example,circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to externalentities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. Inan example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwareprocessors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g.,instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a modulethat operates to perform specified operations. In an example, thesoftware may reside on a communication device-readable medium. In anexample, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of themodule, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangibleentity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specificallyconfigured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily)configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or toperform part or all of any operation described herein. Consideringexamples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of themodules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example,where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processorconfigured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may beconfigured as respective different modules at different times. Softwaremay accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, toconstitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitutea different module at a different instance of time.

Communication device (e.g., UE) 1800 may include a hardware processor1802 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 1804, a static memory 1806, and mass storage device 1816 (e.g.,hard drive, tape drive, flash storage, or other block or storagedevices), some or all of which may communicate with each other via aninterlink (e.g., bus) 1808.

The communication device 1800 may further include a display unit 1810,an alphanumeric input device 1812 (e.g., a keyboard), and a userinterface (UI) navigation device 1814 (e.g., a mouse), In an example,the display unit 1810, input device 1812 and UI navigation device 1814may be a touch screen display. The communication device 1800 mayadditionally include a signal generation device 1818 (e.g., a speaker),a network interface device 1820, and one or more sensors 1821, such as aglobal positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or othersensor. The communication device 1800 may include an output controller1823, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, orother wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication(NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheraldevices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

The mass storage device 1816 may include a communication device-readablemedium 1822, on which is stored one or more sets of data structures orinstructions 1824 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one ormore of the techniques or functions described herein. In some aspects,registers of the processor 1802, the main memory 1804, the static memory1806, and/or the mass storage device 1816 may be, or include (completelyor at least partially), the device-readable medium 1822, on which isstored the one or more sets of data structures or instructions 1824,embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functionsdescribed herein. In an example, one or any combination of the hardwareprocessor 1802, the main memory 1804, the static memory 1806, or themass storage device 1816 may constitute the device-readable medium 1822.

As used herein, the term “device-readable medium” is interchangeablewith “computer-readable medium” or “machine-readable medium”. While thecommunication device-readable medium 1822 is illustrated as a singlemedium, the term “communication device-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store theone or more instructions 1824.

The term “communication device-readable medium” may include any mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions forexecution by the communication device 1800 and that cause thecommunication device 1800 to perform any one or more of the techniquesof the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding orcarrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions.Non-limiting communication device-readable medium examples may includesolid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examplesof communication device-readable media may include: non-volatile memory,such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices, magnetic disks, such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks, RandomAccess Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples,communication device-readable media may include non-transitorycommunication device-readable media. In some examples, communicationdevice-readable media may include communication device-readable mediathat is not a transitory propagating signal.

The instructions 1824 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 1826 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 1820 utilizing any one of a number of transferprotocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmissioncontrol protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet datanetwork (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellularnetworks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family ofstandards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P)networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 1820may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, orphone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communicationsnetwork 1826. In an example, the network interface device 1820 mayinclude a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at leastone of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), MIMO, or multiple-inputsingle-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interfacedevice 1820 may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMOtechniques.

The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructionsfor execution by the communication device 1800, and includes digital oranalog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitatecommunication of such software. In this regard, a transmission medium inthe context of this disclosure is a device-readable medium.

FIG. 17 illustrates a system level diagram, depicting an example of anelectronic device (e.g., system) that can include, for example, atransmitter configured to selectively fan out a signal to one ofmultiple communication channels. FIG. 17 is included to show an exampleof a higher-level device application for the subject matter discussedabove with regards to FIGS. 1-15 . In one aspect, system 1900 includes,but is not limited to, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a netbook,a tablet, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), aserver, a workstation, a cellular telephone, a mobile computing device,a smart phone, an Internet appliance, or any other type of computingdevice. In some aspects, system 1900 is a system on a chip (SOC) system.

In one aspect, processor 1910 has one or more processor cores 1912, ...,1912N, where 1912N represents the Nth processor core inside processor1910 where N is a positive integer. In one aspect, system 1900 includesmultiple processors including 1910 and 1905, where processor 1905 haslogic similar or identical to the logic of processor 1910. In someaspects, processing core 1912 includes, but is not limited to, pre-fetchlogic to fetch instructions, decode logic to decode the instructions,execution logic to execute instructions and the like. In some aspects,processor 1910 has a cache memory 1916 to cache instructions and/or datafor system 1900. Cache memory 1916 may be organized into a hierarchalstructure including one or more levels of cache memory.

In some aspects, processor 1910 includes a memory controller 1914, whichis operable to perform functions that enable the processor 1910 toaccess and communicate with memory 1930 that includes a volatile memory1932 and/or a non-volatile memory 1934. In some aspects, processor 1910is coupled with memory 1930 and chipset 1920. Processor 1910 may also becoupled to a wireless antenna 1978 to communicate with any deviceconfigured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals. In one aspect,an interface for wireless antenna 1978 operates in accordance with, butis not limited to, the IEEE 802.11 standard and its related family, HomePlug AV (HPAV), Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Bluetooth, WiMax, or any form ofwireless communication protocol.

In some aspects, volatile memory 1932 includes, but is not limited to,Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random AccessMemory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM), and/or anyother type of random access memory device. Non-volatile memory 1934includes, but is not limited to, flash memory, phase change memory(PCM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), or any other type of non-volatile memorydevice.

Memory 1930 stores information and instructions to be executed byprocessor 1910. In one aspect, memory 1930 may also store temporaryvariables or other intermediate information while processor 1910 isexecuting instructions. In the illustrated aspect, chipset 1920 connectswith processor 1910 via Point-to-Point (PtP or P-P) interfaces 1917 and1922. Chipset 1920 enables processor 1910 to connect to other elementsin system 1900. In some aspects of the example system, interfaces 1917and 1922 operate in accordance with a PtP communication protocol such asthe Intel® Quickflath Interconnect (QPI) or the like. In other aspects,a different interconnect may be used.

In some aspects, chipset 1920 is operable to communicate with processor1910, 1905N, display device 1940, and other devices, including a busbridge 1972, a smart TV 1976, I/O devices 1974, nonvolatile memory 1960,a storage medium (such as one or more mass storage devices) 1962, akeyboard/mouse 1964, a network interface 1966, and various forms ofconsumer electronics 1977 (such as a PDA, smart phone, tablet etc.),etc. In one aspect, chipset 1920 couples with these devices through aninterface 1924. Chipset 1920 may also be coupled to a wireless antenna1978 to communicate with any device configured to transmit and/orreceive wireless signals.

Chipset 1920 connects to display device 1940 via interface 1926. Displaydevice 1940 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), aplasma display, cathode ray tube (CRT) display, or any other form ofvisual display device. In some aspects of the example system, processor1910 and chipset 1920 are merged into a single SOC. In addition, chipset1920 connects to one or more buses 1950 and 1955 that interconnectvarious system elements, such as I/O devices 1974, nonvolatile memory1960, storage medium 1962, a keyboard/mouse 1964, and network interface1966. Buses 1950 and 1955 may be interconnected together via a busbridge 1972.

In one aspect, storage medium 1962 includes, but is not limited to, asolid-state drive, a hard disk drive, a universal serial bus flashmemory drive, or any other form of computer data storage medium. In oneaspect, network interface 1966 is implemented by any type of well-knownnetwork interface standard including, but not limited to, an Ethernetinterface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) Express interface, a wireless interfaceand/or any other suitable type of interface. In one aspect, the wirelessinterface operates in accordance with, but is not limited to, the IEEE802.11 standard and its related family, Home Plug AV (HPAV), Ultra WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth, WiMax, or any form of wireless communicationprotocol.

While the modules shown in FIG. 17 are depicted as separate blockswithin the system 1900, the functions performed by some of these blocksmay be integrated within a single semiconductor circuit or may beimplemented using two or more separate integrated circuits. For example,although cache memory 1916 is depicted as a separate block withinprocessor 1910, cache memory 1916 (or selected aspects of 1916) can beincorporated into processor core 1912.

Discussions herein utilizing terms such as, for example, “processing”,“computing”, “calculating”, “determining”, “establishing”, “analyzing”,“checking”, or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) ofa computer, a computing platform, a computing system, or otherelectronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform datarepresented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within thecomputer’s registers and/or memories into other data similarlyrepresented as physical quantities within the computer’s registersand/or memories or other information storage medium that may storeinstructions to perform operations and/or processes.

The terms “plurality” and “a plurality”, as used herein, include, forexample, “multiple” or “two or more”. For example, “a plurality ofitems” includes two or more items.

References to “one aspect”, “an aspect”, “an example aspect”, “someaspects”, “demonstrative aspect”, “various aspects” etc., indicate thatthe aspect(s) so described may include a particular feature, structure,or characteristic, but not every aspect necessarily includes theparticular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated useof the phrase “in one aspect” does not necessarily refer to the sameaspect, although it may.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first”, “second”, “third” etc., to describe a common object,merely indicate that different instances of like objects are beingreferred to and are not intended to imply that the objects so describedmust be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking,or in any other manner.

Some aspects may be used in conjunction with various devices andsystems, for example, a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Device (MD), awireless station (STA), a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, amobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tabletcomputer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a sensor device, anInternet of Things (IoT) device, a wearable device, a handheld device, aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, anon-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device, a vehiculardevice, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a consumerdevice, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communicationstation, a wireless communication device, a wireless Access Point (AP),a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a video device,an audio device, an audio-video (A/V) device, a wired or wirelessnetwork, a wireless area network, a Wireless Video Area Network (WVAN),a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wireless LAN (WLAN), a Personal AreaNetwork (PAN), a Wireless PAN (WPAN), and the like.

Some aspects may, for example, be used in conjunction with devicesand/or networks operating in accordance with existing IEEE 802.11standards (including IEEE 802.11-2016 (IEEE 802.11-2016, IEEE Standardfor Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchangebetween systems Local and metropolitan area networks—Specificrequirements Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) andPhysical Layer (PHY) Specifications, Dec. 7, 2016); IEEE 802.11ay(P802.11ay Standard for Information Technology—Telecommunications andInformation Exchange Between Systems Local and Metropolitan AreaNetworks—Specific Requirements Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium AccessControl (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications—Amendment:Enhanced Throughput for Operation in License-Exempt Bands Above 45 GHz))and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, devices and/ornetworks operating in accordance with existing WiFi Alliance (WFA)Peer-to-Peer (P2P) specifications (including WiFi P2P technicalspecification, version 1.5, Aug. 4, 2015) and/or future versions and/orderivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordancewith existing Wireless-Gigabit-Alliance (WGA) specifications (includingWireless Gigabit Alliance, Inc WiGig MAC and PHY Specification Version1.1, April 2011, Final specification) and/or future versions and/orderivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordancewith existing cellular specifications and/or protocols, e.g., 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE)and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, units and/or deviceswhich are part of the above networks, and the like.

Some aspects may be used in conjunction with one way and/or two-wayradio communication systems, cellular radio-telephone communicationsystems, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, aPersonal Communication Systems (PCS) device, a PDA device whichincorporates a wireless communication device, a mobile or portableGlobal Positioning System (GPS) device, a device which incorporates aGPS receiver or transceiver or chip, a device which incorporates an RFIDelement or chip, a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transceiver ordevice, a Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) transceiver or device, aMultiple Input Single Output (MISO) transceiver or device, a devicehaving one or more internal antennas and/or external antennas, DigitalVideo Broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi-standard radio devicesor systems, a wired or wireless handheld device, e.g., a Smartphone, aWireless Application Protocol (WAP) device, or the like.

Some aspects may be used in conjunction with one or more types ofwireless communication signals and/or systems, for example, RadioFrequency (RF), Infra-Red (IR), Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM),Orthogonal FDM (OFDM), Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access(OFDMA), Spatial Divisional Multiple Access (SDMA), FDMTime-DivisionMultiplexing (TDM), Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Multi-UserMIMO (MU-MIMO), Extended TDMA (E-TDMA), General Packet Radio Service(GPRS), extended GPRS, Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), WidebandCDMA (WCDMA), CDMA 2000, single-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA,Multi-Carrier Modulation (MDM), Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT), Bluetooth,Global Positioning System (GPS), Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, ZigBeeTM, Ultra-Wideband(UWB), Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G,4G, Fifth Generation (5G) mobile networks, 3GPP, Long Term Evolution(LTE), LTE advanced, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), orthe like. Other aspects may be used in various other devices, systemsand/or networks.

The term “wireless device”, as used herein, includes, for example, adevice capable of wireless communication, a communication device capableof wireless communication, a communication station capable of wirelesscommunication, a portable or non-portable device capable of wirelesscommunication, or the like. In some demonstrative aspects, a wirelessdevice may be or may include a peripheral that is integrated with acomputer, or a peripheral that is attached to a computer. In somedemonstrative aspects, the term “wireless device” may optionally includea wireless service.

The term “communicating” as used herein with respect to a communicationsignal includes transmitting the communication signal and/or receivingthe communication signal. For example, a communication unit, which iscapable of communicating a communication signal, may include atransmitter to transmit the communication signal to at least one othercommunication unit, and/or a communication receiver to receive thecommunication signal from at least one other communication unit. Theverb communicating may be used to refer to the action of transmittingand/or the action of receiving. In one example, the phrase“communicating a signal” may refer to the action of transmitting thesignal by a first device and may not necessarily include the action ofreceiving the signal by a second device. In another example, the phrase“communicating a signal” may refer to the action of receiving the signalby a first device and may not necessarily include the action oftransmitting the signal by a second device.

Some demonstrative aspects may be used in conjunction with a wirelesscommunication network communicating over a frequency band above 45Gigahertz (GHz), e.g., 60 GHz. However, other aspects may be implementedutilizing any other suitable wireless communication frequency bands, forexample, an Extremely High Frequency (EHF) band (the millimeter wave(mmWave) frequency band), e.g., a frequency band within the frequencyband of between 20 GHz and 300 GHz, a frequency band above 45 GHz, afrequency band below 20 GHz, e.g., a Sub 1 GHz (S1G) band, a 2.4 GHzband, a 5 GHz band, a WLAN frequency band, a WPAN frequency band, afrequency band according to the WGA specification, and the like.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may, for example, refer to, be partof, or include, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), anintegrated circuit, an electronic circuit, a processor (shared,dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), thatexecute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logiccircuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide thedescribed functionality. In some aspects, circuitry may include logic,at least partially operable in hardware. In some aspects, the circuitrymay be implemented as part of and/or in the form of a radio virtualmachine (RVM), for example, as part of a Radio processor (RP) configuredto execute code to configured one or more operations and/orfunctionalities of one or more radio components.

The term “logic” may refer, for example, to computing logic embedded incircuitry of a computing apparatus and/or computing logic stored in amemory of a computing apparatus. For example, the logic may beaccessible by a processor of the computing apparatus to execute thecomputing logic to perform computing functions and/or operations. In oneexample, logic may be embedded in various types of memory and/orfirmware, e.g., silicon blocks of various chips and/or processors. Logicmay be included in, and/or implemented as part of, various circuitry,e.g., radio circuitry, receiver circuitry, control circuitry,transmitter circuitry, transceiver circuitry, processor circuitry,and/or the like. In one example, logic may be embedded in volatilememory and/or non-volatile memory, including random access memory, readonly memory, programmable memory, magnetic memory, flash memory,persistent memory, and/or the like. Logic may be executed by one or moreprocessors using memory, e.g., registers, buffers, stacks, and the like,coupled to the one or more processors, e.g., as necessary to execute thelogic.

The term “antenna” or “antenna array”, as used herein, may include anysuitable configuration, structure and/or arrangement of one or moreantenna elements, components, units, assemblies and/or arrays. In someaspects, the antenna may implement transmit and receive functionalitiesusing separate transmit and receive antenna elements. In some aspects,the antenna may implement transmit and receive functionalities usingcommon and/or integrated transmit/receive elements. The antenna mayinclude, for example, a phased array antenna, a single element antenna,a set of switched beam antennas, and/or the like.

ADDITIONAL NOTES AND ASPECTS

Example 1 is a wireless communication device, comprising: an antennaarray; and processing circuitry coupled to the antenna array andconfigured to: segment antenna elements of an antenna array into aconfigurable plurality of groups of antenna elements; activate analogbeamforming for at least one group of the plurality of groups of antennaelements; and subsequent to enabling analog beamforming, configuredigital beamforming for the at least one group based on a criterion.

In Example 2, the subject matter Example 1 can optionally includewherein the processing circuitry is further configured to configure theat least one group of antenna elements for digital beamformingresponsive to detecting a lowsignal quality level.

In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 2 can optionally includewherein detecting the low signal quality level is based on a receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement

In Example 4, the subject matter of Example 3 can optionally includewherein the RSSI measurement is based on a combined analog beamformedsignal.

In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 3 can optionally includewherein RSSI is estimated during beam scanning across a plurality ofbeam directions.

In Example 6, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-5 canoptionally include wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to configure digital beamforming for the group responsive todetecting expiration of a time period.

In Example 7, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-6 canoptionally include wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to configure digital beamforming for the group responsive todetecting a need for additional beams for a device served by a first ofthe two groups.

In Example 8, the subject matter of Example 7 can optionally includewherein the need for additional beams is based on a handover assistancecondition.

In Example 9, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-8 canoptionally include mixers, at least one of the mixers being of asegmented design, and wherein the processing circuitry is to configureweighted slices of segmented mixers to configure groups of antennaelements.

Example 10 is a method for communication in a wireless communicationnetwork, the method comprising: initiating communications using amulti-element antenna array with analog beamforming configured for eachelement in the multi-element antenna array; detecting thatcommunications quality has deteriorated below a threshold; andresponsive to the detecting, configuring at least two chains from themulti-element antenna array for digital beamforming.

In Example 11, the subject matter of Example 10 can optionally includewherein detecting the communications quality comprises detectingareceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement.

In Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 can optionally includewherein the RSSI measurement is made on a combined analog beam formedSignal.

In Example 13, the subject matter of Example 11 can optionally includewherein the RSSI measurement is estimated during beam scanning across aplurality of beam directions.

In Example 14, the subject matter of any one of Examples 10-13 canoptionally include measuring signal quality for different beams toidentify a best beam.

In Example 15, the subject matter of any one of Examples 10-14 canoptionally include detecting that a timer has expired and, responsive todetecting that the timer has expired, configuring at least two chainsfrom the multi-element antenna array for digital beam forming.

In Example 16, the subject matter of any one of Examples 10-15 canoptionally include detecting that a handover condition is present and,responsive to detecting the handover condition, configuring at least twochains from the multi-element array for digital beam forming.

Example 17 is a non-transitory computer-readable medium includinginstructions that, when implemented on processing circuitry, cause theprocessing circuitry to perform operations including: initiatingcommunications using a multi-eiement antenna array with analog beamforming configured for each element in the multi-element, antenna array,detecting that communications quality has deteriorated below athreshold; and responsive to the detecting, configuring at least twochains from the multi-element antenna array for digital beam forming.

In Example 18, the subject matter of Example 17 can optionally includewherein detecting the communications quality comprises detecting areceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement.

In Example 19, the subject matter of Example 18 can optionally includewherein the RSSI measurement is made on a combined analog beamformedsignal.

In Example 20, the subject matter of Example 18 can optionally includewherein the RSSI measurement is estimated during beam scanning across aplurality of beam directions.

In Example 21, the subject matter of any one of Examples 17-20 canoptionally include detecting that a handover condition is present and,responsive to detecting the handover condition, configuring at least twopaths from the multi-element antenna array for digital beamforming.

Example 22 is a system comprising means for performing any of Examples1-21.

The above detailed description includes references to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of the detailed description. The drawingsshow, by way of illustration, specific aspects in which the inventioncan be practiced. These aspects are also referred to herein as“examples.” Such examples can include elements in addition to thoseshown or described. However, the present inventors also contemplateexamples in which only those elements shown or described are provided.Moreover, the present inventors also contemplate examples using anycombination or permutation of those elements shown or described (or oneor more aspects thereof), either with respect to a particular example(or one or more aspects thereof), or with respect to other examples (orone or more aspects thereof) shown or described herein.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one, independent of any otherinstances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In thisdocument, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that“A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unlessotherwise indicated. In this document, the terms “including” and “inwhich” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms“comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms“including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, device,article, composition, formulation, or process that includes elements inaddition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemedto fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the followingclaims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merelyas labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements ontheir objects.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or moreaspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Otheraspects can be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the art uponreviewing the above description. The Abstract is provided to allow thereader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. Itis submitted with the understanding that it will not be used tointerpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Also, in theabove Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together tostreamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intendingthat an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather,inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of aparticular disclosed aspect. Thus, the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate aspect, and it is contemplated that such aspectscan be combined with each other in various combinations or permutations.The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to theappended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which suchclaims are legally entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless communication device comprising: anantenna array; and processing circuitry coupled to the antenna array andconfigured to: separate antenna elements of an antenna array into aconfigurable plurality of groups of antenna elements; activate analogbeamforming for at least one group of the plurality of groups of antennaelements; and subsequent to activating analog beamforming, configuredigital beamforming for the at least one group based on a criterion. 2.The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to configure the at least one group ofantenna elements for digital beamforming responsive to detecting a lowsignal quality level.
 3. The wireless communication device of claim 2,wherein detecting the low signal level is based on a received strengthindicator (RSSI) measurement.
 4. The wireless communication device ofclaim 3, wherein the RSSI measurement is based on a combined analogbeamformed signal.
 5. The wireless communication device of claim 3,wherein RSSI is estimated, during beam scanning across a plurality ofbeam directions.
 6. The wireless communication device of claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to configuredigital beamforming for the group responsive to detecting expiration ofa time period.
 7. The wireless communication device of claim 1, whereinthe processing circuitry further configured to configure digitalbeamforming for the group responsive to detecting a need for additionalbeams for a device served a first of the two groups.
 8. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 7, wherein the need for additional beamsis based on a handover assistance condition.
 9. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 1, further comprising mixers, at least oneof the mixers being of a segmented design, and wherein the processingcircuitry is to configure weighted slices of segmented mixers toconfigure groups of antenna elements.
 10. A method for communication ina wireless communication network, the method comprising: initiatingcommunications using a multi-element anenna array with analogbeamforming configured for each element in the multi-element antennaarray; detecting that communications quality has deteriorated below athreshold; and responsive to the detecting, configuring at least twochains from the multi-element antenna array for digital beamforming. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein detecting the communications qualitycomprises detecting a received signal strength indicator (RSSI)measurement.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the RSSI measurement ismade on a combined analog beamformed signal.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein the RSSI measurement is estimated during beam scanning across aplurality of beam directions.
 14. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising measuring signal quality for different beams to identify abest beam.
 15. The method of claim 10, further comprising detecting thata timer has expired and, responsive to detecting that the timer hasexpired, configuring at least two chains from the multi-element antennaarray for digital beamforming.
 16. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising detecting that a handover condition is present and,responsive to detecting the handover condition, configuring at least twochains from the multi-element antenna array for digital beamforming. 17.A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that,when implemented on processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitryto perform operations including: initiating communications using amulti-element antenna array with analog beamforming configured for eachelement in the multi-element antenna array; detecting thatcommunications quality has deteriorated below a threshold; andresponsive to the detecting, configuring at least two chains from themulti-element antenna array for digital beatforming.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein detectingthe communications quality comprises detecting a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) measurement.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the RSSI measurement ismade on a combined analog beamformed signal.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the RSSI measurement isestimated during beam scanning across a plurality of beam directions.21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein theoperations further comprise detecting that a handover condition ispresent and, configuring responsive to detecting the handoverat leasttwo paths from the multi-element antenna array digital beamforming.